St Ethelburga-the-Virgin within Bishopsgate is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

church in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, located on

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate gave its name to the Bishopsgate Ward of the City of London. The ward is traditionally divided into ''Bishopsgate Within'', inside the line wall, and ''Bishop ...

near

Liverpool Street station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

. The church was severely damaged by an IRA bomb in 1993. Following rebuilding and restoration it re-opened as a Centre for Reconciliation and Peace.

History

This structure is a rare survival of the medieval City churches that were mostly destroyed during the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...

in 1666. It is dedicated to St Ethelburga, a 7th-century

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...

Barking Abbey Barking Abbey is a former royal monastery located in Barking, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It has been described as having been "one of the most important nunneries in the country". Originally established in the 7th century, fr ...

; she was the sister of Saint Erkenwald, a

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. Its foundation date is unknown, but it was first recorded in 1250 as the church of ''St Adelburga-the-Virgin''. The dedication to "-the-Virgin" was dropped in

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

times but was later restored. The church was rebuilt in the 15th century – possibly around 1411 – and a small square bell turret was added in 1775. A weathervane was added in 1671. In order to raise revenue for the church, whose parish covered just three acres (12,000 m²), a wooden porch was built over its exterior in the 16th century to house two shops. It underwent major changes in 1932, when Bishopsgate was controversially widened. The shops were demolished and the porch dismantled, revealing the façade of the church for the first time in centuries. It suffered modest bomb damage during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was restored in 1953. In 1993, the church was half destroyed when a massive

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

bomb exploded 7 metres from the church, devastating Bishopsgate and causing an estimated £350 million worth of damage. An evangelical faction of the

proposed to demolish St Ethelburga's in the aftermath but, following a sustained public outcry, it was rebuilt to its original plan, though much changed internally.

Description

The church's tiny interior comprises a nave and aisle divided by an arcade. Most of the original fittings were destroyed by the 1993 bombing although they were not as old as the church, dating from the early 20th century, being the work of

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the des ...

. One of the more notable survivals is the curious 19th-century font, which is inscribed with one of the longest known

palindrome A palindrome is a word, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as the words ''madam'' or ''racecar'', the date and time ''11/11/11 11:11,'' and the sentence: "A man, a plan, a canal – Panam ...

s, written in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ΝΙΨΟΝ ΑΝΟΜΗΜΑΤΑ ΜΗ ΜΟΝΑΝ ΟΨΙΝ, which translates as "Cleanse

our Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...

transgressions, not only

face".

The church was designated a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

on 4 January 1950, and its reconstruction retains the listing. St Ethelburga's Bishopsgate Rear Stained Glass Window

Centre for Reconciliation and Peace

St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace is a

non-profit charity A foundation (also a charitable foundation) is a category of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that typically provides funding and support for other charitable organizations through grants, but may also engage directly in charitable act ...

which aims to build relationships across divisions of conflict, culture and religion. Its work includes: a multi-faith conflict resilience programme (faith leaders working together to become more intelligent in their responses to conflict); community reconciliation (building a coalition for peace within the North and South Sudanese

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

in London); the Narrative Practitioners Forum (promoting the use of narrative and personal story for building empathy between people with different backgrounds); Re-awakening the Sacred (a secular and spiritual multi-disciplinary enquiry into bringing a deeper sense of meaning into the earth, environment, leadership, economics and business etc.); an MA in reconciliation at

Winchester University , mottoeng = Wisdom and Knowledge , established = 1840 - Winchester Diocesan Training School1847 - Winchester Training College1928 - King Alfred's College2005 - University of Winchester , type = Public research university ...

; and several strands of cultural exchange work mentoring young adults into social action leadership roles. It also runs a certificated three-day course in conflict coaching aimed at anyone dealing with workplace or personal conflict. The centre also works with a social enterprise, Seasoned Events, for building/venue hire purposes. Every year the Centre organises a 10 km walk, 'The Ethelburga Walk', which links two historic sites associated with the St Ethelburga of Barking:

and St Ethelburga's Centre. St Ethelburga's is a partner in the community of the Cross of Nails.

Notable people associated with the church

* Blessed John Larke, Rector (1504–1544) who was martyred for denying the royal supremacy in matters spiritual. *

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States. In 1607 and 160 ...

, explorer, took communion with his crew before setting out in search of the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...

, 1607. *

Charles Viner Charles William Viner A.M., Ph.D., (1812Birch, Brian. ''Biographies of Philatelists and Dealers''. 9th edition. Standish, Wigan: 2008, p.1468. – 14 March 1906) was a British philatelist who was a founding member of the ''Philatelic Society, ...

(1678-1756) married in the church in 1699. *

John Medows Rodwell John Medows Rodwell (1808–1900) was a friend of Charles Darwin while both matriculated at Cambridge. He became an English clergyman of the Church of England and an Islamic studies scholar. He served as Rector of St.Peter's, Saffron Hill, Londo ...

, Rector (1843–1900) who made the first reliable rendering of the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

into English (1861). *Dr W. F. Geikie-Cobb, Rector (1900–1941) who achieved notoriety by marrying many divorced persons in the church. *Singers

Webster Booth Webster Booth (21 January 1902 – 21 June 1984) was an English tenor, best remembered as the duettist partner of Anne Ziegler. He was also one of the finest tenors of his generation and was a distinguished oratorio soloist. He was a chorister ...

and

Anne Ziegler Anne Ziegler (22 June 1910 – 13 October 2003) was an English singer, known for her light operatic duets with her husband Webster Booth. The pair were known as the "Sweethearts in Song" and were among the most famous and popular British music ...

(born Irené Frances Eastwood) had their marriage blessed by Dr W. F. Geikie-Cobb in a special ceremony for divorced persons on 5 November 1938.

References

External links